


crack smash the sound of my heart

by putsch



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Minor Injuries, Mixed Martial Arts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 06:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13048566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/putsch/pseuds/putsch
Summary: in this lifetime, the mma circuit suited yuuri and victor more than the ice.(written for SASO2017)





	crack smash the sound of my heart

**Author's Note:**

> original prompt: https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/21522.html?thread=9619474#cmt9619474
> 
> gotta love that mma shit

yuri is eleven the first time he sees viktor nikirofov, through a grainy television screen at his parent's inn when he was doing dishes behind the bar.  
  
 _"and there it is, that nikirofov combo right to the jaw and oooh folks that's it! that's it, smith is down!"_  
  
viktor is covered in sweat from the fight, but when he rises he is like a beacon of the gods he was named after, smiling and looking to the crowd more graceful than yuri ever was.  
  
his opponent however, is barely sitting up from being face down on the ground, nose gushing blood.  
  
he remembers nearly dropping the glass in his hand at the sight.

  
  
("are you sure you want to do these classes sweetie?" his mother asks again, staring at applications for boxing and wrestling the way mothers always do when they're worried about their sons.  
  
"yes mom pleaase!")

  
  
despite his best efforts, yuri never makes his moves as graceful as viktor's, never gets out of fights unscathed like him either. months of bruised knuckles culminates with his first victory in the octagon and six stitches on his eyebrow.  
  
it's a change from the soft yuri who wanted the belt as a child, but not so much that he loses sight of his goal on viktor's back.

  
  
  
yuri is 25 now, wrapping his knuckles as tight as he can with shaking fingers. he's been out of the ring for nearly a year now, nursing the injury of his broken pride. now that he's back he can't lose, not when he is still young enough to be in his prime and has something to prove - not just for himself now, either.  
  
"you need to relax, yuri." viktor says, strong hands rubbing into the meat of yuri's shoulders. "take a deep breath with me, okay?"  
  
he closes his eyes and nods, feels viktor pressed up to his bare back and the moment he breathes in yuri does the same, matching inhale, hold, exhale to the expansion fo viktor's ribcage. it's strange to have him here instead of in front of him, but there's a comfort in it like settling into a new home.   
  
"fight with your heart yuri." viktor says, the only thing yuri can hear despite the roars from the stands. it's peaceful, even when viktor's lips brush against his ear. "you know what to do, all the moves, so let it lead you true."  
  
"are you telling me not to use my head? that doesn't sound like good advice from a coach."  
  
yuri can see the kind of sharp smile viktor is making without opening his eyes, knows it's the same one before he slams a right hook into someone to knock them out.  
  
"then take it as advice from a champion."  
  
yuri shivers, and doesn't realize his smile is a matching horror.


End file.
